| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Sanitary and Social Lectures by Charles Kingsley: impossible in the long run to have a generation of healthy souls;
I cannot but see that mankind are as prone now as ever to deny the
sacredness and perfection of God's physical universe, as an excuse
for their own ignorance and neglect thereof; to search the highest
heaven for causes which lie patent at their feet, and like the
heathen of old time, to impute to some capricious anger of the
gods calamities which spring from their own greed, haste, and
ignorance.
And, therefore, because I am a priest, and glory in the name of a
priest, I have tried to fulfil somewhat of that which seems to me
the true office of a priest--namely, to proclaim to man the Divine
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Nada the Lily by H. Rider Haggard: would stand back to back with him in the fray, if victory were theirs,
should be the first after him among the People of the Axe, and as he
called, he walked slowly down the line scanning the faces of all, till
he came to where Galazi stood leaning on the Watcher.
"Here is a great fellow who bears a great club," said Umslopogaas.
"How are you named, fellow?"
"I am named Wolf," answered Galazi.
"Say, now, Wolf, are you willing to stand back to back with me in this
fray of two against ten? If victory is ours, you shall be next to me
amongst this people."
"Better I love the wild woods and the mountain's breast than the
Nada the Lily |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Modeste Mignon by Honore de Balzac: exchanged opium for indigo of the first quality. In fact, I may
have half a million more than I stated, for I reckoned the indigo
at what it cost me. I have always been well in health; not the
slightest illness. That is the result of working for one's
children. Since the second year I have owned a pretty little brig
of seven hundred tons, called the "Mignon." She is built of oak,
double-planked, and copper-fastened; and all the interior fittings
were done to suit me. She is, in fact, an additional piece of
property.
A sea-life and the active habits required by my business have kept
me in good health. To tell you all this is the same as telling it
Modeste Mignon |
The fourth excerpt represents the element of Earth. It speaks of physical influences and the impact of the unseen on the visible world, and is drawn from Lord Arthur Savile's Crime, etc. by Oscar Wilde: gave me a long lecture on the whole subject.
'He began by pointing out that the young man to whom Shakespeare
addressed these strangely passionate poems must have been somebody
who was a really vital factor in the development of his dramatic
art, and that this could not be said either of Lord Pembroke or
Lord Southampton. Indeed, whoever he was, he could not have been
anybody of high birth, as was shown very clearly by the 25th
Sonnet, in which Shakespeare contrasting himself with those who are
"great princes' favourites," says quite frankly -
Let those who are in favour with their stars
Of public honour and proud titles boast,
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